The Meaning of Job 8:21 Explained

Job 8:21

KJV: Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.

YLT: While he filleth with laughter thy mouth, And thy lips with shouting,

Darby: Whilst he would fill thy mouth with laughing and thy lips with shouting,

ASV: He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter, And thy lips with shouting.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Till he fill  thy mouth  with laughing,  and thy lips  with rejoicing. 

What does Job 8:21 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 8:1-22 - God Will Not Cast Away
Bildad now takes up the argument, appealing to the experience of former generations to show that special suffering, like Job's, indicated special sin, however deeply concealed. He feels that God could not pervert judgment, and that the sudden destruction of Job's children proved that they had transgressed.
Job 8:11-13 are probably quoted from an old poem, embodying the sententious observation of some older generation, which compared the ungodly to the rapid growth and more rapid destruction of the papyrus plant. Job 8:14-15 compare the state of the ungodly to the slight fabric of the spider's web, fine-spun, flimsy, and insecure. Job 8:16-19 employ yet another comparison-that of the weeds, which grow to rank luxuriance, spreading over heaps of stones and even walls, which they are figuratively said to see in the distance and creep toward; the very earth is ashamed of them, as presently they lie withered on the path. But notice the assurances that God will uphold all those who return to Him. Be of good cheer; thou shalt yet praise Him! [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 8

1  Bildad shows God's justice in dealing with men according to their works
8  He alleges antiquity to prove the certain destruction of the hypocrite
20  He applies God's just dealing to Job

What do the individual words in Job 8:21 mean?

Yet He will fill with laughing your mouth and your lips with rejoicing
עַד־ יְמַלֵּ֣ה שְׂח֣וֹק פִּ֑יךָ וּשְׂפָתֶ֥יךָ תְרוּעָֽה

עַד־  Yet 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַד  
Sense: as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as.
יְמַלֵּ֣ה  He  will  fill 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: מָלֵא 
Sense: to fill, be full.
שְׂח֣וֹק  with  laughing 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שְׂחֹוק  
Sense: laughter, laughing stock, mocking, derision.
פִּ֑יךָ  your  mouth 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: פֶּה  
Sense: mouth.
וּשְׂפָתֶ֥יךָ  and  your  lips 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, fdc, second person masculine singular
Root: שָׂפָה  
Sense: lip, language, speech, shore, bank, brink, brim, side, edge, border, binding.
תְרוּעָֽה  with  rejoicing 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: תְּרוּעָה  
Sense: alarm, signal, sound of tempest, shout, shout or blast of war or alarm or j oy.